Tag Archives: Christmas rush

Rush ~ Five Minute Friday

10 Replies

“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Psalm 95:6-7 (NIV)

Where Are You Rushing To?

Tis’ the season or so we say
And yet we rush through every day.
Errands, parties, calendars full.
Obligations in every direction pull.

The Salvation Army bell that rings.
The choir on the corner who sings.
Their tunes fall upon our deaf ear
We’re too distracted to even hear.

Wrap a gift for a child in need?
Too busy for that, yes indeed!
Cookies for church? We wish we could.
No time for the lonely in our neighborhood.

The more we hurry the less we do
Of what we know God’s calling us to.
Keeping up fills our mind
Instead of joy we just feel behind.

But what if we rushed in a whole new way?
Straight to the manger filled with hay.
Like the Shepherds did of old.
Do we desire to be so bold?

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.” Luke 2:8-16 (NIV)

Christmas isn’t about what we get done.
It’s a celebration of God’s own Son.
So let’s rush to the Christ Child; make no delay
Bow down, worship, and rest in His peace today!

Joining in with the other talented writers at http://www.fiveminutefriday.com to ponder on the prompt “Rush”. I know you’ll want to hurry over and read what they are offering too!

Deep ~ Five Minute Friday

4 Replies

I’m joining in (a little late) with the other great writers over at http://www.fiveminutefriday.com  writing to the prompt “deep”.  Hope you’ll visit and see what “deep” subjects they’ve written about! Here I go…….

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” Luke 2:6-7 (NIV) / Pixabay

In Too Deep

I remember an unexpected storm back when I was a teenager where it snowed and snowed and snowed some more. It continued until the drifts became as high as the windows on our house! When we finally took the plunge (literally) and headed out, we didn’t get far. It took only a few attempted steps to realize that the deep snow made it very difficult to move! As hard as it was for us, it was even worse for our little dog, Pixie.  Unaware of what awaited her, she dashed through the open door as usual only to immediately disappear from sight. As you might have guessed, her weight was too much for the soft, powdery snow and so she found herself unexpectedly submerged. Trapped in the hole of her own making, Pix was unable to see her way** out, powerless to move, and so she lifted her face to the sky and let out a forlorn cry. Things hadn’t gone as planned! She found herself in peril of being buried and all she wanted was to go back to the shelter of our house.

So, here we are, entering into the Christmas Season: a time of preparation, hope, and peace.  Wait! What? Peace? Oh, we set out as usual with the idea that this year we’ll cut back and focus more on the birth of Jesus, but then comes the blizzard of activities piling one upon the other upon the other, until we’re in too deep finding ourselves unexpectedly snowed under. And Baby Jesus? We lose sight of Him and are in peril of missing out on the joy of our Savior’s birth! It makes me think about those innkeepers long ago. They too were in the midst of a flurry of activity; unaware of what awaited them on the other side of the door when Joseph knocked or of the Miracle they crowded out of their lives.

What can we do to break free from the holiday trap we find ourselves in?  Maybe these simple things can help us see our way and move in the right direction:

*Pray ~ Making time in our busy day for prayer helps redirect our focus from our plan to His and reconnects us to the only Power we need to help dig our way out of all that weighs us down.

*Listen to the traditional Carols ~ You know I love music and Christmas songs rank high on my list but when I feel overwhelmed with expectations or begin to feel drained I turn on those old wonderful standards like “Silent Night”, “Away in a Manger”, and “Joy to the World” and let the story of Jesus’ birth sink into my soul as a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.

*Read the original Christmas story found in Luke 2 aloud from the Bible. It doesn’t matter if anyone other than you is listening or not.  Allow the words to speak to your heart and lift your spirit.

*Choose people over things ~ I am a perfectionist extraordinaire from way back, so I know the pressure we can put on ourselves to provide the “perfect” Christmas for everyone but I’m here to tell you, that mindset will sink us quickly into a deep hole of our own making. Spending time with those we love IS the perfect Christmas gift and no fancy wrapping is required!

It’s December 4th. Has the avalanche of “to do’s” begun? Are you already in too deep? I hope not, but if you are, like Pixie, lift your face to sky and cry out to the One who can help lead you back, not to the house, but to the shelter of a stable and the miracle of the Babe in the manger.

I would love for you to share ways that you use to keep Christmas from losing its true meaning and becoming overwhelming. Feel free to leave your ideas in the comments! I need all the help I can get!